


The Devil's Twisting Bonds

by NuttersAscend



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Descend to Darkness, Friendship, Tsuna treasures his family but in a twisted way, crime and intrigue, dark story, give it a try who knows - you might like it, it's the only way he knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-10-01 22:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20423663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuttersAscend/pseuds/NuttersAscend
Summary: Belladonnas are nightshades, and they're very poisonous flowers. They have very unpleasant symptoms and are a really bad way of dying, whether by prolonged exposure to their scent or by consuming them. (if you dunno)Did you get why the chapter's title is that? Lemme know





	1. Through the looking glass

Namimori highschool had just begun and Sawada Tsunayoshi felt like he was in a bubble. It was so unlike his unruly past, he might even have considered it boisterous. As per usual, violet eyes scanned the room to observe his endearing classmate's behaviours, habits, and idiosyncrasies. It was a habit that he was forced to cultivate, even though it was no longer required. His presence had become akin to a living ghost. Nobody wanted to get into trouble... not after what happened in Namimori middle school.

Tsunayoshi was a short, scrawny brunette who had been Namimori's favourite doormat/bobo doll/punching bag etc. call him what you may. The only reason why they stopped because of a prank that went too far three months back.

The little brunette had been renown as dame-Tsuna. He hasn't graduated out of it, but he hadn't been called out explicitly with that moniker until now. He had earned it through his endeavours every single day up until then. He was horrible at sports, grades and socializing. He himself would agree to the evaluation.

'But at least it's better than now.'

There used to be a lonesome lily in a vase at his desk that used to counter the smell of his shoes that would have been retrieved from the dumpster for his morning classes. The fragrance used to counter the stench of his shoes making him feel grateful for its presence, regardless of the connotation that it held.

Now, like a broken and used toy, he was left to his own devices as his classmates regained their senses from the little fright in middle school. They had then collectively, implicitly decided that the whole bullying thing...? It wasn't worth it. Not when they needed to work for their future jobs and universities. Not when their school behaviours and classmate interactions would be evaluated for their character and personality report.

Tsuna felt conflicted. He liked the peace and the new doors that opened with his new eyes, but he also felt lost. He didn't need to think up plans to escape quickly and efficiently. His stuffed medical cabinet and spare notebooks and textbooks that took up his entire allowance had no place or use. He couldn't even mimic his classmates to strike new connections because his eyes refused to meet another's and his stutter made his speech irrelevant and uselessly long. His skin felt like there was something missing and he couldn't calm down. He actually meant it when he told that nothing interesting and worthwhile happened at school for the day.

On the other hand, his brain could wander far and beyond giving him the excuse to day-dream and ponder on his recent dreams. His beautiful dreams showed him a fantasy where he had been a badass mafia boss that seemed to overflow with charisma. It showed him what could have been if things were different. His alter ego's smiles were infectious and he was always surrounded by a cast of wacky characters that seemed to be extremely supportive of each other... almost like a family. That Sawada Tsunayoshi was... uh... friends with that Hibari Kyoya. He felt his eyes pop out when he saw how friendly Yamamoto and the Sasagawa siblings were with him.

The jock in his world gave him smiles that did not reach his eyes and he had been stuck in an unrequited love with Sasagawa Kyoko. The boxer here probably didn't even have the time to acknowledge his presence, maybe he didn't even know that he existed. He was also pretty sure he was the bane of Hibari's existence... well maybe not that extreme, but he could be considered an existence that warranted nothing but annoyance. Honestly, sleep was the best thing that could ever happen to him right now, especially since the stinging wounds wouldn't keep him up all night. There was one thing that bugged him though. It was when he saw a person with the same eyes that he had. The guy went by the name Byakuran Gesso and he had this unnerving part of him that stared right into the depths of Tsuna's eyes until he panicked and woke up.

He'd sometimes think what was the difference between himself and the supposed boss of Vongola. He wondered what were the circumstances that gave him that poise and that reliability. Physically, the other was only slightly taller and had auburn eyes that turned gold when the other was speaking about his convictions. He had always felt like an unwelcome guest when Byakuran Gesso stared right at him. It felt unfair when the donor of his eyes gave him a message that it was meant specifically for him. But he could digress-this was his reality.

He had heard that people spend a third of their life sleeping, so at least he can spend time in that warm atmosphere during that period. He figured that was the most his life could give him.

If there was a single turning point in one's life, he figured his' was when his classmates were playing mock fights with the mops in the janitor's closet. He had been roped with the kids having clean-up duty. They weren't taking it seriously, adding an arbitrary amount of bleach in the mop's cleaning solution refill bucket. There was no one supervising them and he had been standing in a corner wringing excess water from his mop. Then one of the student's mop brushed against the other's hip thereby provoking him and one thing led to another, finally resulting in an all-out mop war. After some time, one of the two realized that the only one who was left dry from the fight was dame-Tsuna and took the bucket and hollered out to him.

Now that Tsuna thought about it, it was also kind of his fault. He had this really bad habit of opening his eyes to their full extent - he read that people do this to extract all light for complete information from the environment. Well, as a natural progression of events, the cleaning solution bucket had been thrust right upon his face making his world darken suddenly- and the next thing he realized, his eyes felt like it was on fire and the world was extremely noisy. There were clamour and clattering of objects and footsteps in the narrow closet room, his head felt like it was spinning really fast and heating up quickly. He was terrified about what had suddenly transpired and his thoughts were zipping quickly into different directions. The last thing he remembered was hitting his head onto something metallic... and then nothing.

He woke up to a pitch dark world and sounds of sobbing. He heard his dad speaking in a sombre voice and his mom's sweet voice turning hysterical. There was the ever-present smell of antibiotics that he was familiar with and something was obstructing his arm movement. The bed he was lying upon felt uncomfortable and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the frantic discussions happening right in front of him. He felt like he had opened his eyes, but there was no change from the blackness he'd been seeing until then.

...Well on the bright side, it was a long-awaited family reunion. At least now his mom wouldn't be yearning for the return of their family's wayward father. Who knew what he was doing where? Looks like he did something good for once.

It turned out that his classmate's shenanigans left him blind. The people who told him that seemed frantic, sympathetic, furious or worried. It didn't particularly affect his life. It didn't particularly debilitate him more than he felt usually. It felt like he was in limbo and was given a break for once.

His parents on the other hand scurried and scampered left and right to find a cure for him. He wondered what exactly were they so worried about? He was dame-Tsuna so he could not sink deeper than he already was. Things would not change if he lost or regained his vision. His father changed that thought of his by telling him albeit, a bit lost that he found an eye donor. He mentioned that the donor wanted to return a favour so he decided to do this and that the other was going to die anyway so his eyes wouldn't be of much use to him. It was a strange story. If the brunette had helped someone out, he would have pinned it up on his walls... figuratively. So he let it slide, thinking it was the crazy final thoughts of a dying man.

After that, things went smoothly. He underwent surgery, tests, and rehab to get used to his new eyes. Things only changed when he came back to school. His surroundings stared silently at him when he sat in his seat and made the selfish decision to leave him alone. They let him rest in peace.


	2. The birth of the innocent devil

Sawada Tsunayoshi's world felt like they expanded their horizons when he, on his way back from school, noticed someone walking his streets that seemed very familiar. There was a ginger-haired boy with greyish eyes who looked awfully discouraged by something. That did not bother him, in fact, he was almost desperate to verify if that person was really who he seemed to be.

"Irie Shoichi"

Grey eyes turned to look at him as a response to being called and then changed to a look of confusion as they did not recognize the brunette- that was true.

Sawada Tsunayoshi shouldn't have known Irie Shoichi, but he did- through his dream- even if that defied common sense. _That_ was what caught his interest. It was supposed to be mere fantasy...

"Have you decided to be a scientist?"

Confusion shifted to incredulity and then changed into fury. It seemed to be a sensitive spot for some reason.

"That's none of your business. It doesn't affect you in any way, does it? I don't know where you got this information and it's even worse that you've been stalking me for some sick reason-"

"It does matter to me. The fact that you've responded back is a huge deal to me."

The vigour with which he refuted the redhead's points shocked him into silence. Irie did not want to stay in that silence since this encounter was beginning to creep him out.

"Look I don't know about what expectations you've selfishly put on to me when you decided to approach me-"

Honestly, the sheer amount of expectations and that stupid disappointment that came along when they heard his dreams for the future was exhausting.

"I was just curious. The Irie Shoichi I've seen was analytical and could make amazing things."

"Those were for convenience! Just because I've tinkered out with some stuff doesn't mean my path as an engineer or a scientist was fixed! I made a midi mixer with the microchip for musical accompaniment and the drones for reverberation control and lighting! I want to be a musician! Is that so bad!? I'm still 17 so even if my music is bad currently, I have room for improvement!"

He had just been lectured on his future goals an hour ago. He did not want a repeat of it. His music skills were atrocity just touching normalcy, they said. It infuriated him. They only knew to discourage someone. If they were going to say something about it, how about they say something constructive? They were his life's very own adversarial attack, his generator to their discriminator!

"It's fine. There's a niche for every ability anyway. Besides, isn't music subjective?"

"I'm not tone-deaf. I can tell that I need improvement. That's why I'm working towards that future."

Tsuna looked towards his fingers. There were band-aids at the fingertips, a proof of his efforts. Irie noticed his line of sight and hurriedly hid his hands behind his back. He coughed embarrassedly as the current situation finally caught on to him. He'd been venting out his frustrations on a complete stranger, a one-sided stranger maybe.

"So... uh, not to be rude or anything- it was just that the blood just flew into my head. I'll stop rambling.

...What's your name? It's kind of unfair that only you know about me."

"...Sawada Tsunayoshi"

The brunette replied, slightly bewildered. He never thought that the other would express cordiality with him of all people. It seemed like his dreams were the north star, Polaris and he was going to milk them for all their worth.

"Sawada, did you call me out for something?" curiosity shone in those grey eyes as they gave him a once over to analyze him and his motives.

"Like I've said, I wanted to see if you would respond."

"You called out to me, of course, I would respond. What was the point of that? It can't even hold out as a social experiment. That's completely pointless" he grumbled.

"It helped me out quite a bit. Now I can decide to be a mafia boss."

"How did you reach that conclusion?! There was no relation between the two! Besides, you might want to quit joking because Hibari would take even the most ludicrous threat to the town seriously!"

Well, if the dream was his guide, he should aim towards being a Mafia boss. The brunette wouldn't be a candidate for the Vongola even if it exists because he was incredibly wimpy and unskilled in any field. His alternate ego had the privilege to say he wanted to bring the Vongola back to its roots and become a vigilante, even if it was because he became a mafia boss he had friends, ability, acknowledgement, and happiness. He didn't know what made that Hibari choose to be a part of his famiglia, maybe it was the other's charisma. It was undoubtedly because of something _he _did not possess.

"I've given up on bringing Hibari to that cause."

"Of course that guy wouldn't join a crime syndicate! How are you even going to start one?!"

"I'm not starting one, I'm planning on utilizing one that already exists. There exists a Japanese mafia branch called Momokyokai right here in Namimori."

Irie turned pale when he realized the other was serious enough to do in-depth research to find a yakuza branch in the _cleanest _town he'd ever seen- Namimori. Tsuna failed to recognize this, as a seeming light bulb moment came to him.

"How about you join me? If we make proper use of the opportunity, you can use this to kickstart your life as a musician. There is strength in numbers, so they can be the mock audience in a concert and can spread hype. They can accentuate your appearance and start brands especially since they would get and generate capital out of your debut and further performances."

"What are you, crazy? I told you that I need to work on my ability. More importantly, you're saying that I need to collaborate with the yakuza to make this come true. I don't know if the yakuza or Hibari would rip me to shreds first!"

"You say you need work, but until when will you keep on polishing your work? Do you think with continuous hard work, you'd become a musician in ten years? What if you were still considered incompetent? Will you spend another ten years? Or maybe even a lifetime?

The ones who get popular and have that beautiful voice but are scandal-free fade into oblivion and the others that are scandalously outrageous get bullied out off the spotlight or whimsically thrown out off their minds. There are stars that make sexual favours or kiss up their bosses to get an opportunity for a shot at the stage.

There are more than a billion people that aim to be uniquely appealing and the ones that are considered so, pass through the filter of what society considers an amazing kind of strange that simultaneously conforms and stands out. People change minds like they change clothes. You won't ever reach that arbitrary standard if you muck around statically.

Isn't music a harsh world of subjectivity where talent and connections come first and hard work comes second? Even if it starts out as a lie, you can make it the truth later right? It would especially be beneficial for you and quicker to develop once you become part of the musical community.

Unfortunately, you need to be a genius with a lot of luck, persistence, and backing to reach a goal righteously. I think you should not squander an opportunity just because society says that's wrong."

Irie appeared to be conflicted about his words as he frowned deeply, his hands turned into fists by his side. Tsuna thought about what could be the problem and then added on a statement,

"What? It's fine. I won't drag you along for the ride when I try to enlist their _help._"

Tsuna seemed to be unnervingly carefree to be talking casually about subjugating the base of grown, shrewd, and bulky men who have a deep history with violence and drugs. Irie partially thought the other was joking, but the off chance that he was being serious worried him. He felt their abrupt and spontaneous meeting brought a sense of camaraderie between them, especially because the brunette was the only one who had sincerely thought about the redhead's dream -even if the result came out as a bit twisted.

"Sawada... I don't know why you want to get acquainted with the mafia instead of reporting them to Hibari... But still, don't get involved! You might not even come out alive by the end of it!"

Sawada looked cheerfully blank at the fretting Irie as he replied,

"I've got nothing to lose."


	3. The establishment of the yakuza puppetmaster -Investigation and Planning

Irie Shoichi was forced to move as it became apparent that the brunette planned on a direct confrontation with the brunette.

"Just wait a minute! Are you planning on coming at them right now?"

The idiot had the gall to be confused.

"You don't have to answer that! You must be kidding! You in what army?!"

Seeing the other's blank stare, he ruffled his hair in annoyance and impatience before making a decision he thought he would regret in his whole life.

"You know what? Come with me. We'll make a plan."

He shut down any arguments the brunette was planning on making.

"I'm really not going to watch someone march to his death."

Who knows, maybe the brunette would be dissuaded when they discuss the details of the plan.

Tsuna looked at his home with the mysticism someone would have when they enter a spaceship. He sat at the side of the centre table at the prompting of the redhead, who sat fed up, on his bed.

"Let's start with the basics to make the foundations of the plan. Where exactly is this base? How many personnel does the _company_ have and what are their details? Where's the base exactly? What kind of weapons do they use? What are the surrounding buildings? What's the nature of the community living in that area? Let's work on this for the start."

Tsuna didn't look at the least bit ruffled at the questions and instead took a map of the town from his bag. He had circled in red a seemingly nondescript building. Before Irie chose to back himself out of this whole idea when he felt the beginnings of cold feet, the brunette spoke-

"It's an office building that has a drink bar on the ground floor. I think people typically come here to exchange information. The people who work there are from the Momokyokai. They have a fake basement and a real one underneath it where they do interrogations and stuff."

"So it's essentially a hidden room or a secret passage."

"They have two groups. Ones who are clean looking that take care of the appearance and the other-"

"Ok, I get it! Let's move on!"

"They have a puppet boss, who's the figurehead of the company. That guy's been threatened to lease and take care of the papers regarding renewing the building and business lease- you know- the responsibility to manage the company. Since he's been forced to have a lot at stake, 'cos the others will abandon ship the first moment Hibari gets a hold on him, he's been pretty cooperative on sheltering the darker side of the group. I don't know much about where they store the weapons or the exact number of personnel. I don't think the number would be reliable. A few of the neighbouring buildings are shady, the rest are normal housing buildings. Hibari would notice if that area was a lawless zone."

"We don't need the exact number of people, we just need who's usually present where and at what time. We need the zones of the building where people are usually present and the areas where they pay good notice to. I think we need more information regarding the building itself."

"If it's regarding the building, I know the weak spots where you can enter it without acknowledgement. The guys who used to gang up on me used those alleys and I remember times when my body weight displaced a few bricks here and there. Those spots also gave me a view of the open windows and people who bothered by the commotion.

The people in the building are really used to violent activity in those streets. No one bothered to give a glance. The group also don't care much about the building, since they consider it a temporary shelter- they don't bet on Hibari remaining blind forever."

Tsuna's vigour at his attempt at being helpful by spewing content with bad implications disturbed Irie. The brunette looked at him with eyes that screamed 'praise me, praise me.'

"Uh... It seems like you know a lot about the building. Maybe we should chart out the spots with a mapping of the building.

...Oh right! I have a friend who helped me out when I was making the robots for my music. We could modify the drones to make a visual mapping of the building after surveilling it and then we could use that footage to generate a 3d mapping of the area. You can mark the spots on that and we can add on for missing information by observing the footage."

"If you have a drone, maybe we should also disguise that, maybe on the model of the spherical birds that surround Namimori-"

"We can create a 3d printed model and change the texture with tennis ball covers!" Irie completed with a triumph.

'I wanted to suggest training the birds and using a bionic eye like that Birds guy... But, meh, this works out well too. Too bad... that bird seemed unusually docile'

"...Yeah, we can do that. Hibari would be a pain if he notices and starts questioning the presence of the drones."

"Why would he bother? Surveillance using drones is still legal in Japan."

"Oh right, sorry. I've always considered his existence as a huge bother."

"I thought that he would be a godsend- in your case. I mean, I hear rumours about how you get- you know- and Hibari is really passionate about protecting Namimori."

"Yeah, something like bullying in this town would blemish his vision on how this place has to be. He doubles down on the people who get caught-"

"Then-"

"But the beatup, in turn, infuriates those guys. They find better places for giving me a bigger payback for getting them caught in the first place. I wouldn't snitch- that would get me in deeper trouble. But as thanks for that, I've got to know about all the shadiest places that Namimori has to offer. Life gives funny gifts.

Getting back to the topic, do you need information inside the building too? I don't think drones are effective in that regard."

It was an abrupt shift of topic, but it was something that Irie was grateful to go along with. He coughed a little and brought himself back on track.

"Yeah. I'm thinking of using a camera and a microphone transmitter on someone or something..."

"In that case, I can do part-time with the bar to find an important person from the group that's usually with the boss. I can slip the bot on his hair or something-"

"He'd comb his hair regularly and if he sees something suspicious, his first suspect will be you. We can't put it on his clothes because he'd change it by the end of the day. Wait, we can have something he'd use every day- his mobile phone. We can create a hotspot that can act as a middleman to get a service to record and transmit this information to a remote server which we can sort through."

"There's also his shoes. The ones who enter the bar have this habit of keeping their shoes right outside to make others think its a house. The bar is relatively private so the number of shoes doesn't stand out. When I looked at the soles of the shoes, they were worn out so I think they were in constant use."

"We can try this idea first. The middleman idea would require a considerable amount of time."

"...Actually, why do you know so much about this bar."

"I did some part-time there with a fake appearance. If they knew it was Sawada Tsunayoshi doing the mixing, I doubt they'd entrust me with even the spoon, given my reputation for being a ditz. My classmates would pick up on it and demand part of the cash and I can't use it for first aid, makeup for injuries or book replacements. A normal student's allowance won't be enough for the costs after all."

"Dude, if being bullied would make me as resourceful as you are..."

"You'd be a masochist. Leaving that aside, is there anything else we need to talk about for working with the plan?"

"I'm going to have to fill in my buddy- Spanner- the one I told helped me out with my project. That guy's pretty chill about most things so you don't have to worry about it. You'd need to get back to this bartender business from tomorrow. The plan might take more than a month at minimum to execute, so we'll need to approach this carefully."

He originally planned on being a deterrent for this whole plan but ended up jumping the bandwagon. It couldn't be helped, the guy worried him on some level. Also, the idea appealed intellectually to the deeper sides of him and the brunette made him think that if things went south, he was planning on taking full responsibility. If his words weren't gold, those eyes, that weirdly seemed to change from their usual violet, were gold.

He felt like Spanner would agree with him on this one.


	4. Bestow the title of 'The demon of Namimori'

Tsuna had time to spare since Irie and Spanner were occupied with analyzing and modelling the video footage from the spy camera. He did them one better than the plan by filching the pen caps of his drunk patrons and replacing them with the spy camera pens that were sold cheaply online. He had the professional duty to ceremoniously dump the clients back at their cars and an easy opportunity to bug it with cameras. Their cab drivers were used to his presence and would not suspect a thing if he took a minute to rummage around the car interiors.

Of course, he added the mic and camera chip in the worn-out soles of the shoes that he felt they would use regularly. The pens allowed the two to see the interior of the people in the house. Irie grabbed him by the shoulder, still high from the all-nighters and inventing frenzy, and told him to replace those stupid caps with nano drones that could be launched from the cap when stationery. He hid inside the bar's desk and waited for Tsuna's signal and started the bot's program. It stayed inactive throughout the cab ride and came to life in the target's closet. From then, it made a mapping of the room- roomba style. The video footage was sent to Irie and Spanner who were currently working on generating a 3d model map of the footage. The drone evidence was disposed of later by the big wings who got rid of it along with its mistaken mosquito friends, thus killing two birds with one stone.

The brunette felt that he could use the free time given to him to see how much part of his dream could be true. He could also try to spread his wings with the freedom that came with being the building's gopher. You see, the gopher is a person who's to quickly remember the offhand orders that others give him. He's to carry out errands and miscellaneous tasks that others don't want to bothered to do. So, Tsuna had the duties to repaint the walls that were so old that they were constructed with asbestos and apply rat poison to the corners and cracks. Now he also didn't need to bother!

The second task gave him free access to the building's large poison stock and the permission to snoop around the floors for inspecting where those vermin would appear. The building had a real problem with pest infestations, and now, he could use those guys to help him in his endeavours instead.

He spent a couple of days snooping around the bar and its adjacent rooms and found an excellent place to use. It was the cold room which was freezing 'til its very floors that the big air gaps between their upper and lower panels were lower than 0 degrees. He filled the creaking unstable wood gaps with the purified water that was to be used for diluting the liquor. He then coated the window with a strong acid that he had filched from his high school. He told the chemistry professor that he stumbled into the container and his boss that he had tripped over the water tank sending it over the floor. The two shook their head at him in frustration before muttering that the idiot was a lost cause. It took him all he had not to let out a smirk.

The brunette looked at the ten years worth stock in the basement. It was meant for the long haul. The boss wanted the matter out of mind and out of sight. Plus, it was good for maiming. He moved to the corner with the sewer pipe which led straight underground and rammed a concrete block against it with great difficulty. He then moved the broken leaking end of the tube into the cracked cement foundation. It had been battered during the rough handling of goods and captured victims and defectors. Finally, he broke a hole at the end of the poison boxes to allow the wastewater and pesticide mix.

He spent a week to set the whole thing up. Later he noticed the drinkers in the pub were stress drinking and seemed to be a bit on edge. It turned out that the DC committee was snooping around for something. The reason had to be something that changed recently. The Momokyokai were too complacent to do something bold or stood out, so it had to be something around the area. He kept an ear out and peaked at the patrolling members who kept their attention at the sky near the mafia stronghold. Some of them were taking photos of the birds on the trees. Putting those together, it would make sense to think that they noticed the 'hibirds' that were surveilling the neighbourhood. The birds themselves flew way above ground level, making spotting them a feat that only an astute person can achieve. The brunette figured that the prefect couldn't be kept blindfolded for too long. The least he could do was shift the focus of attention to something else. He should send an invitation to him, prepare a perch for the parkouring chairman... and luckily he was Prof. Nedzu's little bitch.

* * *

Hibari had to take part in the committee meeting regarding the double clubrooms that the DC committee had to reserved. It started with the foolhardy idiot that started a thread talking about how the committee was taking advantage of its position to do such a thing which quickly gained support and spread like wildfire with reposts and similar threads in the school form. The final straw was an anonymous poster to challenge his authority on the floor noticeboards.

Well, it worked out for him- he could round out all the ringleaders in the scheme and bite them all to death. So he sat patronizingly and listened to all their complaints and thought that he had gotten more patient and tolerant of herbivores. It must be because he grew older. The prefect noticed the mousy Sawada at a corner of the table. That kid must have gotten roped into this. He remembered to tear a new one for Nedzu for abusing his position.

He waited for a good amount of time and decided to make this charade end because he had better things to do. He reached for his tonfa and whipped it out. At that moment, all hell broke loose. One of the students near Tsuna jumped out of his chair only to fall into a pile of paperwork that Kusakabe spent a long time arranging because Tsuna had tripped the chair in fright. The brunette pounced forward screaming apologies. A few instinctively shifted to the fallen member to lend a hand and others were dashing towards the door. They were making a racket and Hibari wanted to put them to sleep. They scampered out of the room by the time he walked towards them. He gave a look towards his assistant after glancing at the scattered papers. The teen visibly deflated at the suggestion, but got to work, while the prefect decided to take a well-deserved nap for having to put up with their discussions and makeshift-council. They wanted democracy, he gave it to them and they decided to flee. How terribly hopeless.

When he woke up, the Elvis-impersonator was still rummaging for something. The other spoke up to explain,

"There were some papers missing from the DC committee-related work. It's regarding the audit papers of a particular building. There was missing information on the safety regulations, total financial activity account and itinerary bought and supplied. So I thought that they went missing during last time's chaos-"

Faced with the sharp look of concentration that the chairman sent him, Kusakabe immediately said,

"The committee will look into this immediately and report to you within a week-"

"Make it day after tomorrow."

"...Got it!"

It seemed like something fishy was definitely going on. The people from the building that the committee questioned were panic-stricken and shaky with their answers. Their responses and rebuttals were not substantial, and they tried postponing a full-blown investigation.

Hibari decided to take action the very next day of the results. He jumped from building to building until the nondescript office was in site. There was a window sill that jutted out enough to be begging him to break in through it for a cease and control measure. He flung his tonfa at it when he dived right at it. The glass shattered and right as his feet touched the ground of the freezing room, the wood creaked open and croaked out the instantly formed ice due to the sudden pressure applied on it. The sharp wooden splinters and ice shards pierced his ankle making him lose balance. He was sent tumbling down a level and heard screams from people that he figured, received an unpleasant surprise. Then, the smell of blood rapidly permeated through the air making him alert in an instance.

Why were there so many people in... the basement?

When he tried to regain his footing, his feet sunk into dense mud that might as well be called a swamp. There was a distinct smell of rat poison which made him realize that the people were being crushed against the toxic mud and forced to consume it against the weight of the wooden floors and ice. He trudged briskly in hopes of finding unlikely survivors that could serve testimonies to let him apprehend the criminal. When he felt that everything was done for, he heard a faint sound of someone rasping.

He dashed desperately towards that source and brought down his tonfa to split open the flank that blocked the victim and blanked out when a thin liquid dislocated itself from the metal and fell right upon the last survivor who let out a devastating cry. The dots connected when he remembered the flash of thought about how the window seemed like it was being coated by something and his tonfas had been rusted considerably, but he chose to focus on his surroundings. He had single-handedly destroyed the key to the puzzle.

This was the incident which would get circulated with false or exaggerated rumours that would earn him the title 'The demon of Namimori', something he would never be able to get rid of in his lifetime. He turned his dazed eyes towards a new arrival- one that he would never expect show up in this location and at this time, the mastermind- the untouched Sawada Tsunayoshi.


	5. The flip sides of a coin

Hibari Kyoya took it upon himself to be the guardian of Namimori. It was known by everyone. He held justice and peace with an iron fist(tonfa). It became an idea that took its roots in his very blood and his every breath. It made him learn about the inherent hierarchy that existed within the town -the strong carnivore and the weak herbivores that crowded and took pride in the strength of numbers. They followed fixed patterns and had generally predictive behaviors.

There were some anomalies, but most of them didn't cause any harm so he ignored them. But there was one that irritated him to no end- the case of Sawada Tsunayoshi. The two of them had a long history that left him gnashing his teeth in frustration, but for different reasons now. That brunette was the most miserable piece of work that he had ever seen. The child used to cry all the time, throw tantrums and was as delicately sentimental as glass vibrating at its resonant frequency. It was obvious that the child would be a victim of bullying. He would then glance at him with those expecting eyes and force him to make a move when it reached ugly territories. The child used to show up and run to his vicinity, littered in bruises- partly caused by his own clumsiness and partly from the brutality of his attackers. It showed him that society was cruel and efficient in its methods of getting rid of its useless and detrimental parts.

He only wished that the child did something that stopped him from being such a bad example to emulate and proliferate similar borderline hate crimes. It would be a bit hypocritical of him to say this, but violence breeds violence. In his case, he made sure that he was terrifyingly intimidating that he could serve as a symbol of deterrence of crime in his beloved town.

Things changed a couple of years later. Suddenly, the frail child looked spotless. It piqued his interest and prompted him to do a shallow investigation on his life. It turned out that nothing had changed -in fact, it had gotten worse. The strange part was all the situations didn't account for the entirety of the brunette's injuries. The prefect got a bit serious about the incidents and decided to do something about it since this unchecked violence would only encourage the culprits in their delinquent behavior. Unfortunately, this was where things started going steadily downhill. By the end of the weeding process, the victim ended up in a worse situation. The frustrated and injured students channeled their helplessness and fury at the brunette. The main reason for the investigation also started to look at him with eyes that glared in annoyance, conveying the message- 'Keep your neck out of it.'

His position in the town became established as the town's punchbag and Hibari, the town's law enforcer became isolated from the situation. It was like the town decided on a scapegoat and the one in charge of the role came into peace with it. It didn't follow the survival of the fittest. Taking out your frustrations on someone for relief is a practice that only the weak did. He felt sick to his stomach and made him feel powerless for the first time.

Herbivores have adapted to live in an environment by traveling in herds, hiding and running away from danger or ask for sympathy from their surroundings when they become battered and frail. Similarly, Sawada Tsunayoshi had adapted to his situation by using makeup products to conceal his injuries and reduce any form of attention towards himself. He followed any orders to him to the T. He blinded anyone from seeing his situation for what it was, by eliciting laughs at his mishaps, reducing his potential damage if the others were in a good mood, and appearing physically fine. He operated on minimizing damage. It hurt him to think about this, but Namimori was toxic for the Hibari's goal had changed from protecting Namimori to protecting the worthy beings of Namimori. The worst part of it was that he was immobilized by the fact that the best thing he could do was sit by, twiddling his thumbs.

He did think of expelling the boy from school and getting the family to move to a better area, but the Sawada family had a complicated reason for staying in town. It seemed like the father of the family had pressing reasons why they could not move in the near future. He couldn't do something helpful for their cause if the very action would put them in a compromising situation.

Things changed at the end of middle school where a major incident happened at the school and the brunette was rendered blind. He remembered the students responsible for the incident and Yamamoto who came along as the peacemaker visited the brunette to give an apology, no matter how superficial it was, came back considerably spooked.

The Sawada Tsunayoshi that was released from the place was a new man. He seemed to have a sort of life goal and a silent manic frenzy towards fulfilling whatever that was. The eyes that had held onto him in desperation, that changed to annoyance and finally indifference looked at him with consideration.

* * *

That was why it was such a surprise that other seemed to be related to or at worst was the mastermind himself. It was apparent in how Tsunayoshi posturized himself. The brunette spoke up and broke the tense silence,

"I just had to step in since it seemed like you were at a loss. You did, lose your main lead after all. You've lived up to your name- those guys were a part of Momokyokai, a Japanese yakuza group that have done their dirty work right under your nose."

"Cut the bullshit. I've no part in your elaborate schemes."

"But, it's all your doing in the end. If you didn't decide to rain on their parade, these members would have a peaceful discussion in this basement and nothing would have gone wrong."

"There is evidence of foul play. The coated window, ice in the floors, the rat poison mixed mud and the convenient assembly of the members right below that cold room."

"There are good explanations for all of them. The water was used as a stopgap, a filler between the warped floors. The old and creaking floor along with the window broke because a single person decided to fly in from a building and crash into a room. I think that kind of strange situation can only be created by you, Hibari.

As for the rat poison, according to my claim that this is a mafia stronghold, it makes sense that these people would have many uses for the toxic in a _variety _of applications. You're a smart man. I think you would know exactly what I'm referring to. "

The brunette walked closer to him, his arms were open and inviting.

"They were meeting up to overcome a huge problem, they were in a deep pinch. Hibari Kyoya had suspicions regarding their finances and operations. So they decided to meet up in the basement, the only place with no surveillance footage. After all, you could have hijacked their surveillance devices and used their talk as proof.

But unfortunately for them, the great protector of Namimori came dashing in to apprehend the bad guys! You leaped into the room and as if fate itself was lending its support for justice brought the sequence of events you've witnessed and lived through.

It was truly unfortunate that circumstances bred this misfortune. But, on the bright side, you've set an example to everyone on this side of the law. You will be the ideal symbol that you've always worked towards.

Don't you worry, I've even mailed the paperwork that serves as proof that these ruffians were the villainous mafia. Think of it as the report of a good Samaritan or a victim that was forced to play as their bartender."

"Who are you working for?"

The brunette smiled mischievously in response.

"Is it so hard to think that a civilian could serve as a witness to a heinous crime? Besides, you've got no reason to suspect me given my reputation"

For a person who had the upper hand in the situation, Tsunayoshi looked at him with eyes of vigilance. It was the same look that he had for the people that bullied him. His body was tightly wound in tension like he was ready to flee at any moment. At the same time, it felt like he was not truly talking to him given the excessively theatrical speech. It was infuriating.

"You talk like the DC committee would never have swarmed and broken into the place before me."

"That's impossible. You work alone. You would come here alone. It's been a nice game so far. Too bad, it's checkmate."

Tsunayoshi was the only person that had understood and predicted his movements to such extremes that he had been eating right out of his palm. But, he had the gall to act like he was walking on a tightrope- like he was one step away from a catastrophe. It was a respect that felt completely unearned. His behaviour and quirks were all used against him. He could just dash there and bite him to death for this idea. But then, the theatre would end and the lad would have no reason to stay here. He couldn't let him off scot-free after pulling _this _off. The brunette was willing to speak freely here, so he can make the canary sing.

When he was about to speak, he heard a video shutter stop and he realized that the other figured his intentions and was planning on a getaway.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. You know far too much for a bartender and you've slipped up and let your stance known when you mentioned 'this side'

What are your intentions?"

"I thought you hated repetitive droll-"

"Leave the excuses for someone else. You've planned this to a T. Why would you send the paperwork to the committee in advance if you were a part of the organization, even if you claim you were an unwilling victim? You know the price of betrayal in _your _side of society."

"It was to move you to action-"

"Since when were you so keen on me helping you? Last time I checked, you actively abetted those bullies of yours to continue their abuse.

Get real, Tsunayoshi. You were the one who would lose most in this transaction."

"Oh really, last time I checked, murder wasn't legal in Japan or any self-respecting country."

"That was your work."

"I merely provided the gun, you pulled the trigger."

"I was framed. The court would rule me innocent since you laid the foundations for the crime. You were the instigator, the -"

"and you were the unwilling victim? Gosh, I never thought I'd see the day where the great carnivore of Namimori acts like he's the herbivore in the situation. Tell me, Hibari. What were you planning on doing when you got here? Have tea and sternly scold them for their misbehaviour?

Who knows what the building could have in store for you? You don't know how many people would be here, waiting for your esteemed visit to gas you unconscious? If they decided to attack you, they could do so with bombs, poison gas, tranquillizers, sharp and blunt weapons ganged up at you given their access to these things, given they aren't limited by lawful procedure- just like you can't be stopped by the actual law enforcers in town. Is it such a stretch to think that your next victims wouldn't booby-trap the floor in self-defence? Even if you investigate my interventions, you'd see that the actions I took weren't so different from what you'd expect of me. Frankly, if you argue and inform others that I set _you _and an _entire mafia _group up, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who will agree with you. Besides, even you wouldn't be pointing fingers at me if I didn't decide to show up in front of you.

After all, your action is straightforward, pure and... predictable. You'll come straight at them with a clear motive. It's been beaten into the very soul of Namimori- your reckless and _heroic _actions have served their purpose. If you decide to wing an invasion alone, I think you should have come prepared for any and every situation that would come at you.

Your enemies would only consider your actions and presence since your DC committee might as well be for show since your behaviour isn't influenced by anyone of them and you only use them to verify what you already found out when investigating solo. You work alone and you'll be targetted alone and you don't even let anyone know of your whereabouts -you are a mafia's wet dream; do you know how easy it would be to hide your body and their tracks?

Here's a fact, Hibari- Even herbivores feast on corpses, even that of carnivores, once they're down after starving when their fangs get bludgeoned. "

"In the first place, the timing of the plan was too good since the area I was suspicious about conveniently got bright red flags that a shady business was being conducted."

"And yet you came to the place with 'trap' in neon lights."

"I came here to investigate it in detail-"

"By breaking and entering? Search warrants are so flashy nowadays."

"The area was always in a gray area of law. These herbivores might pack bags and escape by then or burn everything and claim accident with threatened insurance companies and street hobos as witness testimonials. They should be bitten to death for daring to do something in my turf."

"Then what makes you so different from me? You were the one to charge straight into a trap with no backups or proper plans. You probably figured that you could just beat them into submission- wait, you _did._"

It was probably to bring his ire, but at this point, the brunette was actually putting him in his vicinal area instead of drawing a line between them like he always did. Hero and victim, Menace and innocent & Tool and aspirant- so this was a breath of fresh air. In fact, now that he was thinking clearer, this guy can end up being very useful to him too. The form was different, but they were essentially working towards the same goal like the sides of a coin. If he was onto something right now, he would not let go of the pawn turning king. It was his turn to use him as the same tool, he'd been labelled as. Well, if he wasn't planning to meet his expectations... They did say keep your enemies close.

"...You're right. Sawada Tsunayoshi, let's make a conditional truce. I'll give you a hand in your conquest. But you need to give me complete insider information. We can discuss terms when it comes to implementing ideas on the other side."

The brunette lost his composure for the first time since the start of the conversation.

"What- Why?"

"The lawless and anomalies can only be ruled by the ones on the opposite side of the law. This way, I can extend my governance to the whole spectrum. Since you chose your path, protect yourself."

Hibari smiled darkly at him.

"Any moment you slip up, I'll personally _bite you to death_. I expect great things from you, _partner_.

Besides, didn't you take the video with me included to show the power you have of the _great carnivore of Namimori_ to the remnants of Momokyokai? I bet as we're talking, it's going to be delivered right at their doorsteps. I hope those drones weren't for show."

Tsunayoshi turned paler and paler the more he spoke. Hibari smirked as he knew he hit gold. He continued,

"You would be the shadow puppet, given how you have a _reputation _in this town. Isn't that right, Dame-Tsuna?

You better earn your keep, since you've got me involved in your matters."

Then Hibari left the building, leaving a morose brunette to ponder his next move.

When he came back to the DC committee office, he saw several members running around like headless chickens. Kusakabe rushed to him with a stack of papers when he noticed him.

"Kyo-san! There was an anonymous tip on the building that you wanted to investigate on. It's a yakuza group- the Momokyokai's stronghold.

We've double and triple checked the validity of this information, we're just not sure about the identity of the sender. The stack was delivered to us by a robotic yellow bird- the one you wanted to find and dismantle to find its objectives.

The papers have information regarding the missing data. Video recordings of the base with the hazardous items stored inside it have been highlighted in every frame they've been present. There have also been audio recordings in files of named attestant of their shady activities.

I suggest you use caution when you approach this matter for further investigation."

Kusakabe wouldn't forget that day for the rest of his life as he stood terrified when Hibari let out a bark of joyous laughter.


	6. To rope in a big one by hitting the bullseye

Tsuna moved in front of the Irie residence, feeling utterly wrecked. He didn't know if the encounter was a success or a trainwreck. But he had to move on and salvage the situation since he didn't know the extent of Hibari's patience.

'God... Hibari and patience don't seem like they'd mesh well. I'd bet if they were put in one room, they'd be in a match greater than any the WWE can come up with...'

Irie Shoichi opened the door and panicked like a headless chicken when he saw the worn-out look that the brunette sported.

"Calm down a bit, Irie-san. Things didn't go south... for you at least" to which the guy showed an even more concerned look. "You've got to explain everything that went there, Sawada-kun"

Tsuna obliged, to a certain extent, and told him about Hibari's deal- not about the setup he made for the guy. He told him how the drones were used to dig up dirt about both the parties and how that was used to put them in their place- as if that was enough to cower the violent crowd into submission (like the saying, a cornered mouse wouldn't fight back, didn't exist. Like as if they wouldn't realize that they just had to shut him up and snuff his flame out to keep their peace)

"Don't worry about Hibari for the moment. What about the Momokyokai boss? Did he act like we wanted?"

"Hook, line, and sinker" Irie smirked.

The Momokyokai gang got into internal strife when they heard that enough information was leaked to get Hibari to investigate into their case. It brought distrust into their ranks as they had to scramble to protect their hides while trying to sniff out the rat. It didn't help that they had to continue their own work to keep food and businesses on the table.

"The drones that showed your showdown with Hibari really put the nail into their coffin. I thought that you wanted to score a partnership with Hibari and from your words, it seems like you got one. So what gives?"

He would have to be insane to treat that guy as a trustee. He figured he could have him as a trustee if the confrontation beat the guy to submission and made him think of the brunette as a threat.

'Why did things end up that way? I even went all melodramatic to get that guy to think that I was insane and untrustworthy. I was even channelling my inner Mukuro. I thought the two got along like cats and dogs...'

"I wanted to make the Momokyokai into the labour force for your cause. I figured that they were at death's door- being the weakened force that even Hibari couldn't detect before all this."

In fact, this was why he made Irie send the drones to their doorstep. To give them dread that their most personal and private space was compromised and even show that the person they dreaded the most was afraid of the scrawny brunette. At least, they wouldn't attack Tsuna while still uncertain of whether some of them were in cahoots with him- well until they snap under the tension.

"Irie, we should use them while they're stunned and get them to put a recording studio as the new base. I'm thinking of setting up a musical idol company with the capital we gain from those guys. What all do you need for that?"

"What? How do you even plan on publicizing that? You'd have to register it- but under whose name?"

He figured he would use Hibari as one of the main shareholders, but now that the guy has got somewhat of an upper ground, it made him feel like he would manhandle the control from his hands if he felt like Tsuna's plans didn't sit well with him. If the brunette became one instead, he would be cast into the spotlight- which would get him into all sorts of trouble. It wouldn't reflect well on Irie if he became the artist and the boss of the company. Not to mention, his credibility would be put into question if it became revealed that the mafia was bolstering his career...

Irie noticing the troubled look, answered the question that the kid had for him, "I'll need a tech team for gathering information about the current trends and for the production. I'll let you know what instruments I'd need. I can work on the production of the tunes. I've found a buddy who has interests in the electrical and electronic stuff- like robotics. He got interested in our idea when I brought it up. So I think he could work with us for releasing the first album...

We need people for construction, PR, recording, editing, logistics, marketing & management, etc for the long haul.

But if we have to start somewhere, we need PR, a person for the outfit, looks and scene coordination, video recording and editing. PR can be simple or hard depending on how hard it would be to get hype or become viral with a promo and actual video- if we want to go pro on this. Then maybe we can get connections to further the dream."

'If it's PR and hype, if we get Yamamoto Takeshi in on this, he'd be able to lead people around the nose- and the guy's great at reading the mood and building up the atmosphere and such- so much so that it almost looks like an obsession.

But... costumes and looks- I don't really like it, but Miura Haru is worth a shot. I wonder if her eccentric tastes can make a person look great...'

* * *

Tsuna ended up in the DC room with Hibari who was drinking tea. His own tea tasted tasteless, as he looked tensely at the prefect who made his assistant invite (read as kidnap) him into the tiger's den/dragon's lair when he caught wind of news of a studio being built on the old building.

'I wish I had time to ponder over this for a bit. Couldn't you have ignored Momokyokai's antics like you did before?' The answer to that was apparently no since the prefect was looking at him with imploring eyes.

If it came to this, he might as well bullshit his way out of this "I thought I might as well whitewash the former Mafia gang into following the proper way of living a life. There's no bigger spotlight than being a star and there's a huge demand for new talent in the area-"

"That's not what you said before."

"Sorry Hibari-senpai. After all that, I've realized that I'm not the sort to bring people through the drudges of life-"

"I never knew that your will was that weak."

"I'm a coward after all. I mean, what can Dame-Tsuna do?"

"Hn. Then whose name are you planning on founding the company with? If you give all the shares to the Momokyokai boss, he'd simply fire the kid and use the company's funds for the group. After all, he'd the one who's funding the whole plan right? He'd know that he's not paying for a small part of the operation but the entirety of it if he becomes the only owner.

Guess when the jig would be up then?

Or is it that you plan on sharing 50-50. Let me tell you, if you even hint to the guy that you both are equals- he'd take a mile instead of an inch.

Then what about if you take 20-80 etc? I'm sure you would have thought about it in a great amount of detail."

With every sentence uttered, Tsuna felt like the prefect was enjoying dicing him into itty bitty bits- relishing the cold dish of revenge from his attempt to pull the wool over him.

"Hibari-san, I think they'd take a good deal when they see one. You do know that idols are a high returns investment. Yakuza are businessmen after all"

"It's also as risky as the shady business that these unscrupulous_ businessmen_ deal with. Your audience is fickle and you're telling the man to pay a large amount when they're struggling without any security. You won't even give them any ease for the anxiety they'd have for investing in a business that can go bankrupt any time.

They won't be blind to the money, now that it won't be treated as a tribute now that it would be well contracted to become a foundation for an establishment- with the old boss becoming a new boss."

"With the soundproofing of the walls and other additions, I can convince them that it can be used for covert operations. After all, no one would suspect an idol company being the cover for a gang."

"They won't suspect something that stupid, because it'll be crawling with normal citizens. It takes just one to fumble into a secret- which won't be difficult if they're as connected as a conjoined twin." Hibari spoke with irritation at the other's excuses.

"Don't even think that these guys will be lulled into becoming proper. Not after what you pulled- it was a siege. There'll be no loyalty and there was no loyalty in the group, despite what chivalry the Yakuza spout about.

You know why they prefer dealing this way, right? It's because it's simple and easy this way. They've lived lives with ties with people on that side of the law. To give that all up, would be to kill them once over."

"I don't think you should say that with how the DC committee turned out-" the brunette shut up when he saw the taunting smile that the chairman brought up. After all, to proceed with that logic would be to eat up the words he spouted in the warehouse.

"You should give them a chance, Hibari. With proper guidance, they could change to being law-abiding citizens. Lately, many establishments don't even service people who belong to the Yakuza. Whatever they have, it's being limited to a small number of places with high profile guests and a long history. And only that is being fought over- after all it's becoming a four-way battle between our government, the foreign govts, the private establishment, and the Yakuza.

It's the era of companies anyway with how much time people are spending in one- it's becoming one of workplace loyalty- like a guild. There are fewer people who are willing to compromise their own safety to build a legacy of their very own. And they have much more room to manoeuvre, so much so that the blacklist ones end up being more evil than being in the Yakuza- without the label of caution."

"In that case, you need to establish what your guise as a company first. If you sneak in buildings, resources and people, it's just another shady establishment.

I won't allow fake identities nor will I allow an undocumented company running amok. If you try it, I'll spill the beans to your puppet.

It won't even be worth it to personally bite you to death.

Either way, you planned on making me the figurehead, right? Isn't it good that the company's going to be _crystal clear and pearly white_? So, where's your proposal then?"

The guy was definitely as sharp and fierce as the carnivore he claimed on being. The brunette was definitely being called out for his words.

"I thought that you wouldn't want to be associated with the Yakuza-"

"That's nonsense. I even conceded to you on your points that day. We're even _partners,_ aren't we? So how about some _trust_?"

Seeing the reluctant gaze from Tsuna, Hibari gave the other an offer, "If you find it that difficult, how about I give you a deal? You wanted the Hibari name on the new company, right? I'll give you the option to pick anyone from the family to be your benefactor.

Don't worry, we'll be an independent party- just like what you wanted from us... as long as you don't step on my toes." his eyes glinted as Kusakabe brought an album with names and photos.

Tsuna visibly darkened as he realized that the whole thing was a trap laid out just for him.

His fingers trembled as his eyes wandered over a number of unknown faces as Hibari asked him to lay his life down for a stranger or the demon himself.

Then, he thought that the guy certainly underestimated him as his eyes flitted across a familiar face. At least he was honest about giving him that choice this way.

"Then this kid." he said pointing at Fon's picture- it was a picture of a baby with braids and dressed in red. His face looked creepily similar to Hibari- like how the other would look like as a kid.

Hibari's eyebrows visibly twitched at that and his voice contained a dangerous twinge, "Why him?"

"It's because he's a child. So he wouldn't be able to plot against me or even know much about the shares and stuff this early on. Provided you keep your deal that the kid's guardian doesn't tamper with the shares. The kid would be getting the share under _his name_"

'Plus he was a person you considered a damn headache. The Arcobaleno was absent-minded enough to not sweat the details, so chances are this whole thing would be swept under the rug by that storm. Might as well share the pain. Misery loves company.' he thought gleefully.

Hibari looked like Tsuna was forcing him to swallow a frog or something. Kusakabe was muttering "What are the odds..." because there were other kids in the album, but Tsuna picked that particular photo.

It wasn't even like the prefect could tell the other to choose someone else, because Tsuna might pick up on the reluctance to make a plot around it and that would lead to a mess that Hibari did not want to deal with. Any mess but this one. He might even insist to go along with his uncle if he was refused- thinking that the baby was his weakness (he wasn't, but he was a source of great irritation.)

* * *

Tsuna thought of a way to snare Yamamoto Takeshi the next day. The first step was to get the troubled jock to consult with him. It wasn't a herculean task since the guy was the ace stuck in a rut, when the big game was fast approaching. Everyone was counting on the ace, and the team shoved their entire weight on his trusty foundation.

There were two ways he could handle this- one was, he could nudge the opposing school's baseball team to sabotage the ace and become the hero that saved the damsel in distress. Like how his dream's counterpart did. It was a fantastical story that ended up well, but Tsuna needed the guy completely intact- since they'd need all the help they can get.

Also, even if his dream version could jump off a roof to try and fetch him, he'd need Hibari to get a bed to break his fall and any more attention from the guy was not welcome. Either that or he'd have to be the person to fetch the bed and break their fall, or maybe he could call the police/fire dept/emergency services that report first to their boss Hibari Kyoya, and then do their job.

He also needed to break their fall from that height through the power of flames else even if a fluffy bed awaited them, it would not cushion their body- and broken bones await them. They'd also possibly have to live a life of vegetables...

Plus, the jock would notice that since he was the closest to the ground and at that point it would only be extravagant, flash bungee jumping...

'When I think of it that way, it seems like a miracle that things didn't go horribly wrong before. That Sawada Tsunayoshi really lucked out with having the world's greatest hitman/tutor with him.'

The first method was something he could try if the other didn't work. After all, it worked once before- why wouldn't it work again? He hoped that it wouldn't come to the other.

The worst part of that idea was that he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to move if Yamamoto spoke those lines to him that he did on the rooftop. After all, he himself couldn't convince himself to move away from the dripping darkness that seeped from the corners of his heart. He wasn't the saint that Sawada Tsunayoshi was. He wasn't a hero.

He mulled over things, as he stayed back in the gym to clean up when his team lost the game and they had blamed the loss on his inattentiveness. When he looked over he saw Yamamoto sweeping the other end, similarly lost in thought.

"You seem awfully serious about something, Yamamoto. Anything bothering you?" he called out to the jock. The other whipped his head from the abrupt voice.

"Oh, it was you, Dame-Tsuna... It's nothing.

...Mind if I ask you about something?" when he saw the other look at him imploringly, he continued, "You know that the match is up next right? The thing is, I've not been making any progress with my batting average lately. What do you think I should do about it?"

"Yamamoto, you know- the physical ed coach says that with enough training you can reach any heights...

But I think that if you only do hard work, you won't reach levels like the league and stuff. I mean, in that case- if you worked 24/7 you would be a pro and become practically unstoppable right? But people who actually put that much effort often retire early from injuries and don't get many results because of the time lost from going against your body's limits."

When he saw that he caught the other's interest, he moved to the main point, "People have specially tailored training regimes, equipment, personal coaches and gear to support their activities. There are even people doing research in the field so that people can conquer their physiological limits."

"I don't think that I can afford all that with my pocket money-"

"You could take a part-time Yamamoto.

In fact, I know- maybe you can work at my dad's recording studio. You see, my dad left to be a star, but he couldn't be one. So he settled with the next best alternative and is building a branch of an idol company here. I decided on helping him out with the stuff so I'm hanging around there a lot nowadays.

We'll pay you and everything, but since it's an upcoming business- you'd not have a fixed job but have to do a bunch of odd jobs. But, are you interested in it?"

When he saw Yamamoto nod, he smiled a bit to himself- things are going smoothly for once.


	7. Fresh blood for a budding belladonna

The first thing Tsuna did the next morning was head straight to the DC committee, which was surprising to Kusakabe. The assistant thought that the brunette wanted nothing to do with the prefect (as every sane member in Nanimori wished) and that the other found a great toy in him- unwilling to let him get away from his grasp.

He opened the door and told the napping DC head inside, "Kyo-san, Tsuna-san has come to see you for something."

The demon of Namimori woke up groggy and irritated enough to seek spilt blood, but when the words sank in- he became intrigued.

"hn."

He saw the brunette enter and how his brown eyes swirled in thoughts and smirked. 'So it's a negotiation round two?'

"Hibari-san, I've been thinking over it and that deal wasn't bad. But the issue is, isn't it a much better deal for you than me?" he spoke as he went towards the window and opened both flaps out wide to let the fresh breeze in, then sitting down on the guest sofa closest to it.

"How's that so? We're partners and you're getting all the profits. Plus, you're going to be responsible for all the operations it'll take. All I'm getting is, information.

If you take up the option of accepting the full offers that the Hibari family will give for your business, we would also fully fund your operations."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at the other. 'In other words, we'll pay you grandly for being a double agent, huh?'

"What's with that look of distrust, _herbivore_? This is all written in the contract that Tetsu passed you yesterday. **Did you not read it to run away from your problems**?" Hibari spoke chillingly. He didn't appreciate their interactions being swept under the rug- it was an utter waste of his time.

"You can't expect me to read that and go, what great fortune has stumbled upon me, can you?

Sure, you might be willing to support me right now- it's only the beginning and you don't know where this all will lead to. But, as you've said, you get _information_ and that too, for every step in the progress. If you don't like where things are going, what's going to stop you from nipping things in the bud? Especially because you know _who you're dealing with._"

It was something that the brunette was apprehensive of letting the prefect be a part of, especially since it meant that Hibari would have a firm grasp of the root of the situation.

If Tsuna didn't manage to do anything, he simply had to crush Momokyoukai and Tsuna- the matter's finished.

Or else, if Tsuna managed to get connections to Momokyoukai around Namimori, Hibari would uncover the web of crime that missed the DC committee's radar- and then collectively destroy them all.

If Tsuna tried to gain connections to the foreign mafia and that underground world, then Hibari would simply nip that poisonous, infectious bud right in the head.

The last option, well... it would probably make Hibari sink his wrath and fury right into him, making his life hell. It was the option of _recruiting from Namimori itself._

And Guess what option he had decided to start with? (haha...)

"You're talking like you're planning on doing some unsavoury things."

"I'm planning on running a Yakuza syndicate, not a candy factory Hibari-san. Just what do you think would be happening?-"

A tonfa flew with force right near his neck, making him eep and reflexively fall deep into the sofa.

"**I don't need the lip, herbivore. All I hear is you whining.**

You know that I'm not changing my mind regardless of your complaints. Don't you have anything _interesting_ to say?" the prefect seemed to have lost all interest, looking bored and almost at the end of his patience.

"...All I'm saying is that maybe we should even out the scales so that you can't just storm in whenever you please and ruin all the _fun_ that my future subordinates would be having."

"Hn?" and then it came back, but with a feeling like he was being played as a fiddle- like that basement. It somewhat infuriated the chairman, but on the other hand, it built a sense of anticipation- of something interesting, something that could serve as a challenge.

Tsuna had to deal with Hibari's almost one-sided interest in him (because he mostly wanted him off his tail as he had a healthy amount of fear towards the other.). It made things messy and complicated for his ideas for what could be his next plan, especially since the other was volatile and vicious.

'I originally thought Hibari-san would be the law enforcer who would go to obsessive lengths for Namimori and thought that I could use that against him.

I mean, the dude acts like a one-man revolution most of the times. It's one of the reasons why the people here can't do anything about him. He does bring change, but the resulting opinions for those upheavals were a mixed bag.

I had straight-up stolen Mukuro's style to try to deal with him first and go against him. I figured since those two fought like cats and dogs, and behaved like oil and water, it would go well and Hibari would not want to willingly associate with him.

Then something messed up, and the guy's looking to proactively 'work' with him. I can suppose what went wrong in this case. Mukuro... didn't take Hibari seriously at all and belittled him on top of that. He had been extremely cautious the entire time, his posture was screaming of attention because he knew he needed to get away as quickly as possible or reduce the damage if the other snapped. It would have made that 'speech' of his seem more of a proposition.

Now, if he let Hibari put the puppet threads on him, it would probably mean that he would get one of Hibari's competent DC members to shadow him and possibly get himself strong-armed into being wired and bugged. If that was the case, Irie could get compromised...'

He glanced at his watch 'Almost time, huh?'- the action was not lost on the prefect's observant eyes.

"I think that if you give me proof of a promise of sorts that you'd be able to finance us, that you've invested a hefty amount enough to somewhat hurt you if you'd try to simply shut things off-" he placed a check with an amount that would account for building a music studio and a host of professional baseball training aids with a gym -

"that would be reassuring. And if you could show that you are willing to do it anywhere, _anytime; _that would be _very_ reassuring. So reassuring, in fact, that it would become an irrefutable proof for us, to even think of the possibility that you would ever have such intentions."

'Clean money would be better for their professional development, after all.'

Hibari quietly skimmed through the check, while Kusakabe downright gaped at the brunette for what he was suggesting. The black-haired teen spoke in clipped tones, "I see that you're already starting with prior royalties for loyalties. You're quite the budding Yakuza, aren't you? " as he tried to probe the other's intentions and purpose.

"If you can't handle it, I'd think that the whole partnership is nothing but a honeypot."

"I said nothing of the sort." and signed in the check. Kusakabe looked concerned at how quickly the transaction had ended- it was as if Tsuna had smoothly egged the other into signing. It was money that was trivial to the family, but if it went to malicious hands... 

It was surprising, just an hour ago, he thought of the brunette as nothing but Hibari's newest unfortunate victim. But now, he was thinking about the other as if he was a dangerous individual.

Hibari himself was feeling the beginnings of a sort of respect for the other- the feeling of being pied piper-ed into something was not something pleasant. Before it was fun for him, because he could still move around quite freely and had the prospect of some really great fights- like it was him breaking out from his old perspective to see a way to find something much more amusing to engage himself with.

But now, it was if, he was being fettered to walk a path that someone paved, not for him, but for something or someone else- like he was the means to someone's end. Hibari played along to Tsuna's supposed nonsense, figuring nothing would possibly affect him, and came out with the changed impression that he would need to take the brunette seriously or else the other would take him for a _damned ride- one that was so predictably unfinished_.

'Play along, or this would be the leverage I'll forever have over you, huh?' Kusakabe thought as he frowned. He was so engrossed in the matters inside the room, that he didn't notice the visitor who'd come right in front of him.

"Now that you've gotten written proof, Tsunayoshi. You can be rest assured that you're not on a sinking ship." the prefect said sarcastically and continued, "Now, care to enlighten me about where this is going? " he said pointing at the cheque.

Hibari didn't have to wait too long to hear the answer for that, as Yamamoto Takeshi cheerfully entered the room amidst Kusakabe spluttering complaints.

"Maa, maa Kusakabe-senpai, it's going to be fine. Tsuna told me to come at this time in particular, so I'm definitely supposed to be here."

The demon of Namimori spent no time in glaring daggers into the eyes of the nuisance who was making himself welcome into their discussion. "Herbivore, get out before _I bite you to death_."

"But Hibari-san, didn't you want to know what that was for. I invited him so that you could know." Tsuna said, his eyes asking if the other could stay or not.

"Hn."

Yamamoto looked at the two in question. Sure, the situation was pretty strange for him- seeing Tsuna able to talk sense to the guy renown for talking with his fists- no, tonfas. But, it had been pretty weird since yesterday when he had asked the brunette for advice and got that kind of outrageous answer as a response. Then he got told to come to the DC community room at the time he came in so that he could see his ticket to a fast track to unlocking his full potential. So, he guessed, he might as well roll with whatever weirdness his life could give him.

His eyes fell on the check with an outrageous amount written on it, signed by what seemed like the prefect's signature. A link connected and he asked the prefect enthusiastically,

"Oh I see. Hibari-san, so it's like your family and Tsuna's family are going to be sponsoring the baseball club? But, woah I never knew it cost so much to get those types of equipment. It almost seems like overkill. But our team is sure loved, huh? I never knew our fans cared about us so much, so as to come up collectively with that huge amount hahaha."

Hibari's eyes sharpened as a thought appeared to him as Kusakabe was beginning to look concerned. Tsuna replied, listing the resources that he would be availing from that cheque to give Yamamoto a clear picture.

"They're for building an indoor training ground, hiring a personal trainer that would mesh well with you and give you an external, outside perspective to yourself to start with, a sports nutritionist to make sure your diet can get the most from your physical body, a physiotherapist to help you relax and condition your body, training equipment for say, getting you to handle intense batting sessions, gym equipment for self-training, analysts who keep track of your prowess until now to let you know about your tells that opponents can take over-"

As he was speaking, Yamamoto's eyes were glazing off slightly and his eyebrows tightened. All those people... He needed so many people solely working on him, just to get him to stand up for the next games. It was debilitating like he couldn't become a diamond from all the pressure exerted on him as coal... but instead needed to be synthetically manufactured into one... All that natural talent that coach boasted about, only to end up as artificial as how he presented himself to his friends. How ironic.

"You can see it for yourself, compare and contrast your own naturally given and gifted talents that you had single-handedly raised to such an extravagant extent...

and see just how their assessments and routines fall short of your true potential."

It instantly brought focus into Yamamoto's eyes, as they looked straight at the brunette with shock. He didn't understand why he said that. What on earth was this for?

"Yamamoto, you can't even kid yourself on this. You're beyond a prodigy when it comes to baseball" Tsuna remembered the dreams where Yamamoto's serious throws and hits were always compared to something that could be Vongola's deadliest weapons- and dream Tsuna always looked like he wished he was joking.

"You've been shouldering your entire team by yourself, as an ace that has taken up the rest of the positions too. Those guys are simply wearing numbered t-shirts-"

"That's not true!-"

"They don't train after or before practice and half-ass it during compulsive practice and simply ride off your coattails. You're also very willing, and very able to shoulder all that weight. There's no guilt for them.

Tell me, is there any practise game or any official game they are able to win without you? Are they ever willing to let you take a break when that entails letting them see the days where they perform suboptimally just because one member is missing?"

Yamamoto remained silent, but there was indignance firing inside of him from the sense of responsibility- the pride from the feeling of being their appointed and cherished leader of the club.

Tsuna's voice turned more sombre, as his eyes dulled as he continued,

"They're baggage because they've been mollycoddled so... since they've not received any pressure to pick up the slack. You were easily able to pull them all along to wherever you wanted to go.

Now... the stage is bigger and it expects more from you- you could deliver if you weren't so saddled with so much. If you say you can handle it and you can go further, then your opponents were never a match for you and you never considered them seriously. But you simply accommodate for anything the ones you care for need and bend over backwards, and contort yourself in the oddest positions to keep moving forward together."

'Just like what the Sawada Tsunayoshi from my dreams was to Yamamoto Takeshi. He gave baseball for the other, he took up sword fighting, became a part of the Italian Mafia and ended up losing his father, his only family. All for friendship... What a great sacrifice.'

"...It would help, to be around people who have more experience with your passion. Teenagers in middle school tend to not really see the big picture, because- they... we live in a boxed garden.

If the people who've seen what's out there let you open the doors to the vast horizons waiting for you- you can see just how many possible actions are awaiting you. You don't have to break every bone of your body for the sake of victory.

Instead, you might find comrades and teammates who'll make you feel like you're soaring to victory, through cooperation and coordination. At the very least, you won't feel like running in the darkness because of the bad opinions of similarly lost children."

'After all, it was my dream self's bad advice that triggered your attempted suicide.'

Yamamoto looked a bit sheepish now. "Wow, Tsuna... You, uh, really thought this through huh? Man... that's kinda embarrassing huh? I guess I really worried you yesterday. All of this seems kinda overkill, though, hahaha."

Tsuna mentally shook himself becoming composed and replied with a small sneaky smile, "Who says it's all for you? You're going to start Namimori's legacy in baseball. You're the guinea pig."

The baseball jock returned that small smile with an ear-splitting grin, "I dunno what a guinea pig is, but that kinda challenge sure seems hella interesting! I'm in!" his eyes then fell on the clock and he dashed to the door in a hurry shouting,

"Sorry Tsuna, I'm going to have to go to my Pops now. He's going to be so mad if I've shirked on my duties. Can you handle it from here? Let me know if there is stuff I should do. I gotta hurry."

"No problem, Yamamoto-san. But take it until the preparations set up-"

"Got it~!" he said and scowled at something, then chose to deal with it later, running like Cerberus was chasing him.

As soon as Yamamoto left, Hibari closed in on Tsuna, and straightforwardly accused him,

"You're planning on luring Namimori students into these schemes of yours, aren't you?"

As he moved his tonfas to move towards the brunette's neck to hold him down in a chokehold, the other put his entire weight on the sofa making it topple over the other side immediately, forming a barricade between them.

It was then, that the prefect realized that the other was closer to the window, one step away from a successful escape from the room.

He pinched his nose bridge and gave a sigh. The brunette was the one putting out one outrageous idea over the other, so why was he the one acting like he would be the one jumping from the 3rd floor at the slightest twitch from him? It was a bit exasperating, when he was, for the first time in his life, reaching out to another person by patiently (as patiently as Hibari Kyoya could do) hearing him out.

"Herbivore, the couch is going to get dirty. Put it back at its place."

When he looked at Tetsu, the other got the message and ran to make tea. In five minutes, two cups of green tea were placed on either side of the tea-table.

Hibari looked somewhat unimpressed as he crossed his legs and simply said, "_spill_". Kusakabe added on to that by closing the window shut.

Tsuna looked somewhat sheepish, his hands were fidgetting as he temporarily lost focus from the ridiculousness that came from his latest escape plan.

'Oh right... Hibari climbs in the DC committee room through the terrace and exits it through jumping down from the window. It would have been a poor shot to escape that way from a guy to who makes a habit out of travelling parkour-style...'

"Well... it's more of an additional precaution I'm taking."

The prefect raised an eyebrow at the amount of scepticism the brunette had for him. His voice lowered an octave as he said,

"Will you hold them as hostages?"

Hibari found that notion ridiculous. He could care less what kind of mess the stupidity of stupid crowding herbivores landed them. In fact, he was the one who would be actively pursuing such herbivores to bite them to death, to keep them in line. The brunette could possibly keep all the herbivores in the school as 'hostage' if he wanted to- he would still go and bite them all to death if they disturbed the peace of Namimori, hostage or not.

"Taking hostage will use up my available personnel and resources. I'm not going to do something that pointless. They're more to help the organization expand than anything else."

"Are you trying to pull strings using middle schoolers as your cover?" Hibari asked incredulously.

Tsuna looked at Hibari wryly.

'I would have found it ridiculous if not for how prophetic that dream was. His father went an become a star escaping from earth to go to the cosmos themselves- that was the only difference between him and the dream Tsuna.

This town... was ridiculously insane. A retired assassin of a sushi maker. An antique shop owner who was a literal God. If His father was alive, he would have been the CEDEF head- mafia. Hibari's relative was part of the triads. Vongola Primo lived here until his death and his guardians visited him here. The Momokyoukai gang were here. And it was really hard to believe how connected the school was to these things.

Things were much more crazy in the dream Tsuna's reality- the town was a mafia hotspot! And the school had housed multiple mafia-related incidents.'

Hibari grin turned shark-like when he saw how Tsuna was not denying anything, how that would establish a connection between the Namimori middle school and the syndicate he was planning on building. The brunette was planning on using Yamamoto, with his popularity from his sports prowess and personability, as a launchpad to set these little foundations off.

"_Wao. It's the first time someone's tried to threaten me with Namimori chu itself_"

"I hope you don't misread my intentions, Hibari-senpai. I'm only planning on using it as a safeguard. If you don't let me feel like I'm standing on stable ground, I'm not letting you feel that either.

After all, it's only fair that way."

Besides, they wouldn't really be hostages.

'I... I'm not that Sawada Tsunayoshi.

I don't have any charisma of any sort...

There's nothing I have within me that could bind them to me. So... I can only do the next best thing.

Fulfil their wishes to their absolute grandeur- for that is what money and power can have the illusion of granting- after all, that's one of the boons that omniscience -or whatever that dream was - gave.

It'll be like blowing balloons. They'll be floating from the fulfilment, gleefully happy and loosely tethered by threads and held by my hands.

And when everything goes to hell, Sawada Tsunayoshi simply has to release his fists and show the open palms of surrender. Then, all those balloons will be soaring towards wherever they pleased, in that wide blue boundless yonder.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Belladonnas are nightshades, and they're very poisonous flowers. They have very unpleasant symptoms and are a really bad way of dying, whether by prolonged exposure to their scent or by consuming them. (if you dunno)  
Did you get why the chapter's title is that? Lemme know


End file.
